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Hi all,

I can no longer use pills due to the fact they make my tinnitus much worse (and possibly caused it).

For injections are there certain compounds to avoid over the others in terms of how they can effect tinnitus? Does the vasodilation stay local or can the injections cause side effects elsewhere?

Thanks!

Also as a further question, considering pills worked well, what would the most conservative injection compound I could use to minimize side effects? I'd rather start small and as minimal as possible with this.

I have tinnitus. Yes the pills make it worse along with heartburn. I use Mono-mix alprostadil (PGE1). I've never noticed any effect from it on my tinnitus one way or the other. I have no experience with bi-mix or tri-mix as the mono-mix works very well for me and is supposed to have a lower risk of scaring or fibrosis, but not no risk. I'm not aware of any drug interactions but I'm not a doctor.

Hi John.

I switched over to injections and my tinnitus has gone back to normal levels! It took 3 months.

As injections are local not systematic, I don't think they get to enough levels to impact tinnitus.

Interesting topic. I'm convinced that taking expired Viagra pills caused my tinnitus. In either a very weird coincidence, my play-buddy who I gave some of my excess pills to, also developed tinnitus at around the same time. I never listen to loud anything - so I know mine isn't due to hearing damage.

Even if that isn't the cause, I do know that if I take even a sliver of pill, I get a tinnitus spike that lasts for 2-5 days. So that is actually what lead me to trimix. I went to my Dr and said that I can't stand the tinnitus spikes I get from Viagra, and demanded a prescription to trimix.

Anyway, trimix does not impact my tinnitus at all.

I will admit that reading this made me think. Yes it's been a few years since I've taken Viagra and my tinnitus is not as severe as it was when taking the drug. I've had tinnitus for years after being in a rock band as a teen/young 20's then 20-30 years old working heavy machinery with air lines blowing all night. Ear plugs then (70's) were not what they are today for sure. Some days I could hear that "hiss" in my ears for hours after leaving work and trying to get to sleep.

Thanks for all the replies, seems that the injections should be ok then. Makes me feel a lot more comfortable with trying it out.

will49 wrote:
Even if that isn't the cause, I do know that if I take even a sliver of pill, I get a tinnitus spike that lasts for 2-5 days. So that is actually what lead me to trimix. I went to my Dr and said that I can't stand the tinnitus spikes I get from Viagra, and demanded a prescription to trimix.

Yeah, Viagra pills come up on the Tinnitus forums quite often, along with sudden sensory hearing loss (SSHL).

I think what happened to me is I stupidly used an angle grinder while working late, a few days after taking a pill, I had tinnitus, the tinnitus went and then I had some stress and also used another pill and got this severe tinnitus attack.

I had to listen to ocean noises to get to sleep for 12 weeks.

The urologist agreed that tinnitus for 3 months is too long and risky.

They don't know why or how PDE5i's are ototoxic, but I read that they can stop the ear follicles from lying flat when loud noises occur - ear hair follicles lie down flat to avoid damage.

So it is possible that by taking PDE5i's and then going to a rock concert days later, you could end up with hearing damage and this should really be studied more and added to the label because it is a preventable form of hearing loss.

frwmw1 wrote:I had to listen to ocean noises to get to sleep for 12 weeks.

The urologist agreed that tinnitus for 3 months is too long and risky.

Unfortunately there is no cure that I'm aware of for tinnitus. A hearing exam recommended hearing aides, but you don't wear them to sleep. That's the worst time my tinnitus bothers me, all quiet except for the hiss in my ears.

Old Guy wrote:
Unfortunately there is no cure that I'm aware of for tinnitus. A hearing exam recommended hearing aides, but you don't wear them to sleep. That's the worst time my tinnitus bothers me, all quiet except for the hiss in my ears.

Yes, the only known medical treatment is corticosteroid injections or tablets within 48 hours of noise trauma induced tinnitus - this can save the hair cells in the cochlear from dying.

Reading in the tinnitus forums, a leading doctor wrote that in their decades of experience, the only thing they have found certain is that Tinnitus is unpredictable - some people go to a Rock Concert and have ringing in their ears for days, some may have the ringing for months, other unfortunates have ringing in their ears for decades after.

After having acute tinnitus, the ear specialist I saw tested me and found no evidence of SSHL, so just said the Tinnitus was aggravated by stress, and didn't believe the Viagra caused it. However, we know that Viagra (and the others) can cause SSHL, so I don't understand why they don't think it can cause Tinnitus, as loss of ear hair cell function causes Tinnitus - when the hair cell dies the brain replaces it with ringing.

The Tinnitus I had was debilitating, and I am glad it went away, and so I'm too scared to return to PDE5i's, incase the Tinnitus returns and doesn't go away.